This invention relates to secure communication between networks and more particularly to administration and attestation of multiple networks that may intercommunicate at different security levels.
In many modern network communication systems, maintaining reliability and security of the information being exchanged is a significant concern. It is generally accepted that providing security in both software and hardware components may provide the greatest protection. At the hardware level, establishing security may be difficult because much of the hardware components' semi-conductors are manufactured off-shore from un-trusted sources. However, administrators of secure computer networks frequently desire to take advantage of the off-shore manufactured components to keep network costs down.
Network hardware sourced from different manufacturers, however, sometimes raises intercommunication difficulties as each network may utilize it own proprietary authentication and/or encryption/decryption scheme. In addition, managing authentications and security levels between and among the various networks is typically done on an ad hoc basis with no central administration. As a result, security breaches may occur or authorized communication may be impeded.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide and manage secure administration and attestation across diverse networks that may operate at different security levels.